Since A Heart Untamed is published under the Jove Friends Romance line, it is not surprising that friendship is a major theme in this book, which was co-written by Sherri Eddington and Donna Smith under the pseudonym Adrienne Burns. Rural Kansas in the late 1800s is the setting for this tale of four friends who possess strong opinions about how the others should live their lives, and few scruples when it comes to manipulating others to suit their own ideas. While all the ingredients of a typical romance have been carefully included here, including lots of sexual tension, the main characters remain somewhat unconvincing, and the necessity for some of the secondary characters and plot inclusions is questionable.

The story opens in Flint, Kansas in 1875. Twelve-year old Amy Baxter defies her father by taking a dangerous stallion out to ride, despite the admonitions of her best-friend Polly. The girls are to join Carey, the boy Amy has already determined to marry someday, but eighteen-year old Race accidentally spooks the horse and Amy is thrown. After checking to make sure Amy is all right, Race announces he’s leaving Flint. “I hate you, Race Jordan,” are Amy’s last words to him. Of course we already know better.

Ten years later a homecoming takes place as Polly returns from college to become Flint’s new school marm. Polly brings the news that Race has also come home after years of working as a Texas Ranger and ranch foreman. Amy is still living at her parent’s horse farm, which has been owned by her brother, Monroe, since their parents’ death. Monroe does not want anything to do with the farm; his dream is to attend law school and land a job in the city. Amy is just as determined that he will stay and run the farm that she so passionately loves. She still plans to marry Carey, who is now the town doctor, but the actual marriage has been put off because Amy feels responsible for the farm and is not ready to leave it for a home in town. Amy is an unabashed tomboy, and while she is convinced she loves him, she dreads having to learn to be the proper lady who will bring credit to gentlemanly Carey.

Polly quickly sees that Amy is not cut out to be Carey’s wife, and she also notices the sparks between Amy and Race, despite Amy’s disdain for him. Polly confronts Carey, who admits that getting married was more Amy’s idea than his own. He is overjoyed to hear that Polly doesn’t think Amy really loves him the way she thinks she does, and the two of them begin to plot ways to make Amy realize that she shouldn’t marry Carey.

There is a lot of dramatic past history included to provide motivation for the characters. Race is controlled by his lousy childhood as the son of an abusive drunk, and a tragedy involving his best friend, for which he holds himself responsible. Amy feels she was a disappointment to her father for not being a boy, and is determined to fulfill the plans she made in the past even whey they aren’t really what she still wants. Then there is Carey, who allows himself to be used out of a sense of loyalty to his childhood friend, Amy. At one point, Polly thinks about Carey, “…he would have married Amy and spent the rest of his life pretending he loved her, Polly realized in awe. What a gentleman he was! What a wonderful, caring, selfless friend.” I would have described him differently.

Despite this careful attention to character motivation, the interaction between Amy and Race isn’t enough to drive the book, and superfluous secondary characters and plot lines seem to have been included simply to round out the story. The “added for effect” nature of these secondary plots is proven out by the loose threads left hanging at the end of the story. Amy’s brother Monroe is one character who doesn’t seem to have much purpose beyond being one more person who is being pressured to live out someone else’s dream. Remember the old TV series Bonanza, and the irritable little Chinese cook on the Ponderosa whose sole function was to rant and rave about anything and everything several times a show? Amy and Monroe’s housekeeper is a female version, and she wants a baby of her own despite being too old to have one. In addition, a brute of a man who beats his wife and abuses his kids is added for additional danger, and this plot sideline is never satisfactorily resolved. Then there is a pitifully evil pair from Race’s recent past who conveniently appear. Just in case this isn’t enough, several Big Misunderstandings are thrown in for good measure.

On the plus side, there is plenty of action to appeal to readers who aren’t partial to character-driven plots, and who do not mind a few seams and rough edges. Polly and Carey seem to have been made for each other, although that fact is carefully not explored, perhaps leaving room for a sequel. I doubt I’ll know, for I believe one visit to Flint, Kansas is enough for me.